It was already evening when Ji Bo received the news. He shot to his feet. “What did you say?”
The soldier’s face was smeared with dried blood, and his voice trembled with sobs.
“It must have been that band of bandits from before. They suddenly burst out at us, and we were caught off guard. Beauty Wei was killed. We—we tried to protect him, but more than half our men died as well.”
Saying “more than half” was merely being polite. Of the hundred men who had gone out, only seven or eight had made it back alive.
Furious, Ji Bo kicked him. “How many of them were there, that they could beat you this badly? If you couldn’t win, couldn’t you at least run?”
The soldier was knocked to his knees. “We ran. We just didn’t make it.”
Ji Bo stared at him with a grim expression. He kept staring until cold sweat appeared on the soldier’s forehead, then ground his teeth and asked, “Wei Tai is really dead? Where’s his body? Where is it?”
The soldier stammered, “The body… We didn’t bring the body back.”
Their own numbers had been nearly wiped out. Who would have remembered to carry back a corpse?
Hope flared across Ji Bo’s face. “Then how can you be certain he’s dead?”
The soldier answered firmly, “We all saw it. We saw it clearly. He’d been stabbed several times.”
Not only had he seen Wei Tai struck by several blades, he had also seen the dead man’s eyes staring wide open.
But faced with Ji Bo’s fury, he did not dare say that aloud.
The muscles in Ji Bo’s face twitched. He viciously kicked the soldier again.
Early the next morning, Ji Bo personally led a force out of the city. Yet when they reached the site of the incident, hardly any complete corpses remained.
Clearly, wild wolves and other beasts had visited the place during the night. Drag marks scarred the ground, and apart from the scattered, mangled limbs, most of the bodies had vanished without a trace.
Ji Bo searched the surrounding area with several thousand soldiers, but they found only a dozen or so fragments of corpses. Nothing else.
Wei Tai, whom he had been desperately hoping to find, had disappeared completely, leaving behind only a few scraps of clothing.
Ji Bo roared several times in rage, but there was nothing he could do. After venting his fury, he had no choice but to return.
In Wuqin, Jiang Jin and Mu Ning stared at the note in their hands, their expressions rather strange.
Dong Si was puzzled. “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Jin handed him the note. “It’s a letter from Yun Ci. Something has happened at the armory.”
After reading the contents, Dong Si’s expression became equally indescribable. “What does the lord intend to do?”
Jiang Jin smiled faintly. “Handle it as you see fit.”
Dong Si’s eyes lit up. “Good. I’ll write a reply right away.”
Then, remembering something, he added, “Daqing Commandery’s attitude lately has been rather strange. They agreed to our proposal to build a wharf without the slightest hesitation.”
Mu Ning snorted coldly. “What else can they do if they refuse?”
Now that Jiang Jin had conquered all of Fengzhou, it was not only Sizhou whose people were growing restless. Daqing was in the same situation.
Besides, the people on both sides were coming into contact more and more often. There were many things one could not keep hidden simply by wishing to do so.
Dong Si looked at Jiang Jin. “My lord, do you think Lu You intends to…”
Jiang Jin neither confirmed nor denied it. “There’s no hurry.”
At the Xianglu County wharf, Old Master Qiu watched his grandson direct the servants as they bustled back and forth, carrying luggage. A kindly smile appeared on his face.
The steward urged him, “Old Master, the weather is getting hot. Why don’t you get into the carriage and rest?”
Old Master Qiu waved a hand dismissively. “I may as well enjoy the scenery of Fengzhou.”
Old Madam Qiu and Wang Xianyun were seated inside the carriage, with a maid attending them.
Beneath the small table inside the carriage sat a vessel resembling a censer. Wisps of cold air drifted from it, bringing a hint of coolness to the stuffy, sweltering carriage.
“Is that ice?” Wang Xianyun asked curiously.
Ice did exist during the summer in this era. It was collected from winter icehouses and stored for use in the warmer months.
Naturally, the cost of ice was extremely high. For the most part, only the imperial family and aristocrats could afford it.
The maid serving them had lived in Xianglu County with Qiu Tai for some time and was quite familiar with everything there.
“Yes, Madam. They use something called saltpeter to make it. There’s an ice shop in Xianglu County, and the price isn’t expensive.”
Wang Xianyun drew in a sharp breath. “Ice can be made?”
The maid smiled. “Yes, Madam. It was an idea thought up by the Princess and successfully put into practice by the Research Institute. I heard they only developed it this year.”
Wang Xianyun looked as though she had just heard something extraordinary. “What is this Research Institute?”
“I hear it’s a government department dedicated to researching all kinds of things. The people there are the finest experts in their respective fields. They’re incredibly capable.”
The maid was lively by nature and often chatted with the neighbors whenever she had free time. Although she had not been in Fengzhou for long, she had learned quite a lot.
Wang Xianyun understood, though she still had some questions. She was about to ask more when Old Madam Qiu’s voice came from beside her.
“What is this?”
Wang Xianyun looked toward the table in the middle of the carriage. Several food boxes sat on it.
One had already been opened. Inside were things that looked somewhat like pastries, though not quite. A faintly sweet and rich fragrance drifted from them.
The maid hurriedly explained, “This is another kind of pastry. It’s called… cake, I believe. They say it’s made from eggs. It’s sweet and soft.”
“It came from the Xianglu Pastry Shop. That’s a shop run by the local government, and they make the most authentic cakes. I heard the idea also came from the Princess.”
“Of course, quite a few people are making imitations now, but none of them taste as good as the cakes from the Xianglu Pastry Shop.”
Even someone like Wang Xianyun, who was accustomed to fine things, could not help agreeing. “It looks beautiful, and it smells delicious too.”
As she spoke, she picked up a small skewer and used it to lift a slice of cake that had already been cut. She handed it to Old Madam Qiu. “Mother, try some.”
Old Madam Qiu took it and tasted it. The cake melted in her mouth, its distinctive sweetness and rich fruity fragrance spreading across her palate and instantly awakening her taste buds.
She nodded and sighed. “Excellent. The flavor is superb.”
Wang Xianyun speared a piece for herself as well, her eyes lighting up. The cake’s smooth, delicate texture made her want another bite the moment she finished the first.
The maid had already opened several other food boxes, revealing an assortment of petite pastries.
She introduced them clearly and carefully. “These are pastries in several different flavors. This white one is…”
Old Madam Qiu and Wang Xianyun sampled each of them in turn. Though they were all pastries, to the two women, who loved sweets, it was like sampling a sumptuous feast.
The productivity of this era was limited, and both the methods and varieties of pastries were extremely restricted. Though the two women came from wealthy families, they had never tasted sweets like these before. It was as though an entirely new world had opened before them.
Seeing that they had eaten nearly enough, the maid thoughtfully opened another, larger food box.
“This is watermelon, a type of fruit that’s perfect for the scorching summer.”
A cool, fruity fragrance rushed toward them. Wang Xianyun was startled. There was ice inside this box as well?
The food box was made of wood. At the bottom sat a glass dish of roughly the same size, filled with ice and sending out wisps of cool air. On top of that was a smaller glass dish containing peeled and sliced watermelon. The bright red flesh made it look irresistibly appetizing.
“What kind of fruit is this?” Wang Xianyun asked. She did not want to reveal her ignorance, but curiosity got the better of her.
This time, the maid was stumped. After a moment, she said, “They only call it watermelon. I don’t know anything more about it. It only appeared recently.”
As Jiang Jin’s territory expanded, so did the amount of farmland under his control, and a greater variety of crops began to be planted.
For Fengzhou, where fruit was scarce, watermelons were the best choice—they yielded well and ripened in a short time.
Besides watermelons, there were also high-yield strawberries, but they took longer to mature and the season for them had not yet arrived.
Wang Xianyun picked up a small slice and took a bite. A trace of coolness spread through her mouth as the juice burst forth, refreshing and sweet.
The cool, invigorating sensation traveled from her mouth throughout her body. She felt so comfortable that even her soul seemed to have been elevated.
Old Madam Qiu closed her eyes in bliss. Only after a long while did she finally say, “Coming to Fengzhou was the right choice.”
No one could resist a bite of icy watermelon on a scorching summer day.
